Karen Kitchen (Osage Nation) is a Prek-12 educator with over three decades of service in urban Title VI Indian Education programs. She is a proponent of STEAM engagement and Montessori PreK - K classrooms for Native American youth. Her TEK collaborations include Roots of Wisdom, Lenses on the Sky, and Celebrate Urban Birds. Karen is a member of the Power of 30 ICBOs (Independent Community Based Organizations) through Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and worked as a researcher and adviser in two NSF funded projects: “Examining Contextual Factors to Improve Cultural Diversity in Informal Stem Programs” and “Developing the Processes and Potential to Engage Historically Underrepresented Communities in Public Participation in STEM Research Through Authentic and Impactful Collaboration” also known as the Noise, People and Birds project. The ICBOs co-authored an article titled “Understanding the Impact of Equitable Collaborations between Science Institutions and Community Based Organizations: Improving Science Through Community Led Research” that was published in the journal BioScience in March, 2022.

Karen created Native Story Hour to promote Indigenous authors, illustrators and publishers, and engage children and their families through story and song. Her Native Story Hour program is featured each month through Multnomah County Library via zoom, and she provides in-person programming at libraries, schools and museums throughout the Pacific Northwest. Here, and with her duo, The Prairie Blossoms, Karen enjoys performing tribally-specific songs to inspire and educate audiences about Indigenous history, contemporary issues and the diversity and beauty of American Indian music.

For the Indigenous First Steps certification program at PSU, Karen co-facilitated the class “Community and Voice in Online Learning” with Dr. Maria Tenorio. Karen has also participated as an adviser, researcher, and mentor for the IFS.

Karen’s hobbies include gardening, fishing, kayaking, and traveling,

Norrine Smokey-Smith, M.Ed, is a retired educator whose involvement in Indian Education spans over four decades. She began her career in Portland Pubic Schools as an elementary teacher then an Instructional Specialist before becoming a program administrator directing the district’s Indian Education project for the second half of her career.

Throughout her tenure in Portland Public Schools Norrine served as Portland’s representative to the Oregon Indian Education Association (OIEA). She was instrumental in establishing the Pepper Memorial Achievement Awards that were given to Native high school graduates pursuing higher education.

Norrine is a recipient of OIEA’s Indian Educator of the Year and Indian Administrator of the Year. She also was honored with the Humanitarian Award from the Oregon Education Association.

Norrine’s involvement in early childhood education began in 2002 when she founded the Native Montessori Program for three- to five-year olds in Portland Public Schools funded by a demonstration grant from the U.S. Office of Indian Education. She has also served on ODE’s Early Childhood Advisory Board as well as her tribe’s Head Start Advisory Committee.

Since retiring, Norrine has been an education consultant. She has written research articles for NAPTAC (Native American Parent Technical Assistance Center) and developed curriculum for the Honoring Tribal Legacies project formerly at the University of Oregon. She is currently writing lessons for the Tribal Health Scholars program in the Native American Center of Excellence at OHSU. She also has mentored Native high school and college students as well as Indian education program directors. Norrine currently volunteers as an elder representative on Portland’s Title VI Indian Parent Committee.

Raised in the Carson Valley, Norrine is a member of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. She served three terms on her Tribal Council and continues to serve on the Washoe Health Board as well as the Washoe Housing Board of Commissioners. She currently serves on the boards of NARA NW, Donate Life NW, and the advisory board of PSU’s Indigenous First Steps program. She and her husband, Terry (Navajo), raised two nieces and their daughter in their SE Portland home. Norrine enjoys reading, writing, gardening, and caring for their seven chihuahuas.